Assigjtoe to the



(No maal.)

W. J. WILLIT'S. TIEE EOE GAE WHEELS.

Unirse diaries @artnr triosE HTARREN J. XVILLlTS, 0F THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN, ASSGNOR 'IO THE SHEFFELD VELOCIPEDE GAR COMPANY, OF SAME PLAGE.

CfFECAlIiQ-N forming part oi Letters Patent No 356,811, dated February l, 1887.

Application filed November 29,1836. Serial No, 2720.196. (No modeLl To all whom z'rt may con-cern:

Be it known that I, lli/linens J. WiL-Lire, of Three Rivers, in the county of St. Joseph and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvement in Tires for Car-W'heels, o'l'vvhich the following is aspeeiiication, reference being had to the accompa nying drawings.

My tire is an improvement upon that pattented to myself and Edward B. Linsley, April 27, 1386, No, 810,8455, and is especially applicable to light carmheels, such as are used upon velocipede hand-cars. In the said patent an improved tire is shown, made of plate metal of substantially uniform thickness, and provided with an outer and inner iiange and tread, all in one piece. The objection to that patented tire is that While it is convenient to manufacture and has certain economical advantages in that respect, and can loe sufi ciently fastened to the rim of the wheelbody by bolts passing only through the inwardly projecting llangc, and is a manifest improve meut as compared with what had preceded it, yet it is not, as it was supposed to he at the time, a tire in which the minimum amount of metal is used requisite for the proper degree of strength and durability.

The object of my present invention is to provide a tire with the minimum Weight and maximum strength and Wearing qualities.

lt is a material consideration of great practical importance to reduce the Weight of hand cars, as Well as other light vehicles, by every possible means consistent with maintaining the proper strength and durability, and the development ol hand-cars by invention shows steady and uniform progress, little by little, for many years past in the direction of lightness without loss of strength or durabilitymin fact, with a gain in both these desirable qualities.

An improvement in the structure of a handcar Where the greatest speed and theleast propelling power are sought to be provided. for, by which the weight can be reduced so much as live pounds withoutdiniinishin g the strength or Wearing qualit-ies, is ol such material impertence in practice as tobe controlling in the manufacture and sale of handcars. fin other werds, the Wisdom of experience decides at once in favor of the pactical superiority of every car embodying even apparently so little advancement or improvement in its construction,

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of a car-Wheel with my im proved tire applied. Fig. 2 is a diametrical section of the saine. Fig. 3 is a segmental opposite side view to that of Fig. l. Fig. e is a sectional detail of a tire and its l'astenings, and

Fig. is a viewr of the hub.

I have found by experiments that the greatest weight and thickness of metal in tires for hand-car Wheels and the .like is required in the outwardlyp roj ecting rail-flanges, and that the tread and inwardly proj ectin g tlange can safely be made much thinner and lighter than the rail-ange-in fact, the inn'ardly-projecting flange may be made much thinner than the tread portion of the tire. I therefore make a Wrought-metal tire either of steel or i ron plates, that are rolled out to the desired Width and thickness, and after being cut to proper lengths Welded into a ring and then bent to shape at its opposite edges to forni the llanges, substantially inthe manner set out in the said patent. n

My improvement consists in forming the plate for the tread and flanges beveled from edge to edge or reduced in thickness at the tread portion and still more at the part forming the inwardlyprojccting ilange. I have found that a thickness of one-fourth of an inch on one edge and one-eighth of an inch on the other make a very desirable-shaped bar or plate for bending and Hanging to make a tire; but these proportions may be varied, the idea being to forni a tire with sufficient thickness and strength in the rail-flange and with less thicknessin the tread and inwardly-projecting iiange, Where less strength is required, and so that the tire may be as light as possible and yet heavy and strong enough for practical purposes.

The details oi' my improved ear-Wheel with my improved tire-plate are substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the said patent, and I therefore omit to describe the parts of the Wheel in detail by letter.

In the tire, A. indicates the railange, thicker than the tread B and nwardly-projecting fastening flange C, as Well shown in section in Figs. 2 and By my improvement I not only secure lightness and a saving of metal that are material considerations of utility, but by using a beveled plate of steel or iron (the bevel preferably all on one side of the plate, and that the outer periphery of the tire) I secure what is always desirable in a tire for a car-Wheel-an inclined or ooning tread, as it is called. This is an advantage not incident to my said patented invention, and is practically important.

Having described my improvement, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

A wrought plate-metal tire having outwardly and inwardly projecting flanges A and WARREN J. VILLITS.

Witnesses:

I. N. BUsoN, LEsrER B. PLACE. 

